Rochester to take developers’ money, finish projects

Tuesday

Oct 9, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Liz Markhlevskayalmark@fosters.com

ROCHESTER — For the first-time ever, the city is taking steps to take over unfinished road work at two residential projects.

Since the approval of residential subdivision projects at Anderson and Channings lanes in 2005, and the difficult economy that followed, public infrastructure projects such as roadways have not yet been completed, but many homes have already been constructed as part of the approved site plans, and several new homeowners have already moved into the single-family houses.

Typically, when a subdivision is completed, the city gains ownership of the projects’ infrastructure, such as roadways and utilities. But because infrastructure work on Anderson and Channings lanes is not complete — despite multiple attempts by the city to work with the developers — the roadways are still private, and the city is not providing public services to the residents who live in those subdivisions, said Planning and Development Director Kenn Ortmann.

These public services include snow plowing, curbside trash pickup, and mail delivery to residents’ mailboxes.

Because it has taken such a long time for the developers to complete required infrastructure work, primarily pertaining to roadways, the Planning Board in August voted to initiate the process of taking possession of surety associated with both projects, and to use the surety money to complete remaining work. The city takes surety money from developers before a project begins. The amount of surety is supposed to equal what it would cost to build the roads and other infrastructure. As steps gradually get completed in construction of this infrastructure, portions of the surety funds get released to the developer. It’s like an insurance policy in case the developer cannot complete the project, the city will have the money to do it.

On Oct. 2, the City Council approved two resolutions to authorize City Manager Daniel Fitzpatrick to take steps necessary to ensure completion of the two subdivision projects and to transfer the deed for the public right-of-way to the city.

After the council’s vote, Fitzpatrick said he has consulted with attorneys about procedures pertaining to surety, and he will proceed to negotiate with the developers to ensure the city can retain surety funds and receive the title for the public infrastructure portions of the subdivisions.

“We are going toward the goal of providing municipal services” to residents of those two subdivisions, said Fitzpatrick.

For Channings Lane subdivision, the developer is Ledge Rock Construction LLC. The city originally took $184,000 in surety, and five releases of this surety have been made over time, as various steps of the project have been completed. The city has $67,049 in cash surety remaining for the project.

For Anderson Lane subdivision, the developer is Chamberlain Investment Properties. The initial surety taken from Chamberlain Investments for off-site work [--] including drainage and sidewalks [--] was $254,000, and after three releases of surety have been made, $10,000 in cash surety remains for off-site work for the project.

For on-site work, such as roadway building, on Anderson Lane, $1.5 million was taken in surety originally. Four releases have been made of this surety over time, as various parts of the project have been completed, leaving the remaining cash surety at $182,000.

Ortmann said if the city ends up keeping the remaining surety money, and takes over the projects, it would be the first time Rochester does so.

For both projects, a preliminary review by the Public Works Department indicates that the surety money is close to the cost of completing the projects; however, a further analysis would be needed, according to Ortmann.

On Anderson Lane, more testing needs to be done to determine how much work needs to be completed underground.

According to Ortmann, a Chamberlain Investment official wrote a letter in April expressing his belief that the city is not willing to work with him when it comes to the Anderson Lane project, stating, “We would expect that these (surety) funds would be used by the city to complete the remaining site work for the subdivision.”

In August, Peter Rizzo, of Ledge Rock Construction, also told the Planning Board he wishes that the city take over the surety and complete the Channings Lane project.